1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to optical receivers and, more particularly, to a mechanical mounting and assembly technique for optical receiver apparatus which results in improved mechanical stability and performance.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical receivers such as are employed in laser range finders have conventionally included an optical receiver card carrying a photodetector element. The photodetector element may be a photodiode such as an avalanche photodiode (APD) or an acceptor-intrinsic donor (PIN) diode. The receiver card is mounted to a telescope or other device for directing optical energy onto the photodetector. Due to the small size of the active detection element, mechanical mounting stability is critical for optimum energy collecting performance. Prior art receiver designs have employed a large two-inch by two-inch hybrid electronics detector package mounted by bonding the hybrid housing to a molybdenum mount utilizing epoxy. The mechanical stability of the bond line between the hybrid housing and the molybdenum mount has not proved optimal or stable over temperature, particularly because epoxy creeps and cold-flows.